At a Critical Stage in the Game

[Innominate]

Mooja, your lack of understanding the need for the terms, seems to indicate a lack of understanding of what they mean.

Have you read the link I posted?

How else would you refer to a planes energy state?  Jargon exists for a reason, to make a more complex idea easier to communicate with.  

[qts]

You've got 300 perk points already?! I haven't managed that in over a year!

Mayhap you have far more exacting standards than I. AH will meet them and more. It seems to me that a player of your skill is being held back by your equipment. If you need to use the keyboard unnecessarily, you haven't got enough buttons on your HOTAS. Get yourself a Saitek X45 or Thrustmaster Afterburner or Thrustmaster Cougar depending upon budget. And get yourself a set of rudder pedals.

Shaw's Fighter Combat is a must too. I'm told he plays here, though we've never crossed, but there are other real pilots, both civilian and military here.

Further, do be aware of the strategy element of AH.

[Mooja]

I'd read all three links you posted by about the fouth day of downloading the game.  (about a month ago)  I have not yet read the books that were suggested and am working on that part.

Looking back I think it would have been clearer for myself to understand if ACM were to refer to what they call "e-state" and "energy" using momentum style references and acceleration due to gravity.  Most every Joe understands how speed, weight and gravity affect each other.

Calculating the energy state of a plane (the real energy not some ACM defined subset) would have little value.  If you were to go into a physics lab and begin lecturing about energy states but ignore all energy except potential and kinetic energy you'd be laughed out of the room.  Or if you went into a trigonometry class, drew a triangle on the black board and said "Here we're gaining an angle" you'd have some puzzled looking students.  When people misrepresent the meaning of technical terms like they do in ACM it gives the impression that they don't know wtf they're talking about to begin with.  Like I said, this would not inspire me with confidence if my arnold were really on the line.

[Innominate]

Mooja, you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

[Mooja]

Hum, I guess that proves it then.

[Blue Mako]

Mooja, Innomin8 is right, you don't have a clue.  Read some of the links above and try to learn something...

[john9001]

good god , Mooja has started another "you can't have 120% fuel because you can only have 100% of anything"

Mooja, the key to happy life is to simplify , not to complacate

[Urchin]

Mooja, I know what you mean.  I don't know all the fancy terms for stuff either.  It really isnt important.  

Two things you really need to know about "ACM"

1.  The slower plane will almost always win in a nose to nose turn (because the faster plane will fly out in front).

2.  See 1.  

Everything else you can just make up.  Honest.  

It works for me (after a fashion anyway).

You can apply 1 to just about any situation.  Vertical?  If you are both going up, it is a nose to nose turn in the vertical plane.  If both planes are pulling for a shot, the slower one will get there first.  Horizontal (or flat) turn?  Both planes pulling for a shot, the slower one will get one first.  Someone overshoots, then tries to turn hard for a shot on you?  Pull back into them, since they overshot they are obviously going faster, and if you don't know which plane wins a nose to nose fight by now, I give up .

[Ack-Ack]

Originally posted by Innominate
Any idea where one might be able to find it?

The only place I've been able to find it at is the Air University library at Maxwell AFB, Alabama.  Trying to get it through an interlibrary loan with my local library.


Ack-Ack

[Ack-Ack]

Originally posted by Mooja


For instance take the term "pull into him".  This is a widely used term taken to mean that you should turn in a direction with the intention of heading towards your opponent.  The term "pull" is used because in most cases you "pull" back on the flight stick to initiate a turn.  However if the opponent is slightly below and in front of you you would actually "push into him" to accomplish your goal.  Have you ever heard someone say they pushed into their opponent?  These are the things that don't make sense.  If you were to try to teach someone to drive a car or program a computer or do anything else outside of the military with the same kind of communication lapses that are used in ACM you would very quickly be deemed inconsequential and subsequently ignored.

I think your problem is you take things way to literal.  When you "pull" into someone, it's a reference to pulling into his turn.

Ack-Ack

[JestrCAF]

It'll get better , just takes practice.

Use the TA (training arena).  There are a lot of good pilots that donate time there, and will be happy to show you the ropes.

Read up on how each plane flies.  (The following is a link I found very helpful.  http://www.telusplanet.net/~dsoder/models.htm .).  In-other-words, what does it do well and what does it do poorly. i.e.: climbs to alt fast or turns well, has a lot of ammo or a little...  Things like that can help you understand and anticipate what your opponent is most likely going to do.  If you know what the attack plan is ahead of time, you have a better chance of beating the opponent.

Now this is somewhat overly simplified, but it will let you understand the basics, then the finer points will come with experience.

Also, mapping keys to your stick that you use frequently is a great help.  But even if you don't, you'll get to know where they are with time.

I hope this helps, and I will try to post a link to the page I mentioned above.

JestrCAF

[Shane]

Originally posted by JestrCAF
It'll get better , just takes practice.

JestrCAF

yep, doing everythinig twice is one way to learn.  

[devious]

As for the "he turns, I turn" bit:

Bounce an enemy from above, and heÄll likely pull a split-s or a break turn. Don't even try to follow him - climb, and let him waste his speed and/or alt turning. At the top of the climb, reverse on him and repeat.

He'll be slow & low after some passes. Then, nail him.

[Bluedog]

Split S =  roll inverted and pull stick back.

Break turn = roll to one side (direction of intended turn) and pull stick back.

Split S uses vertical plane, break turn uses horizontal.

Both of these manouvers are defensive, and remove more options from you than they will give.

Think of 'Energy' as 'Options'

Options = LIFE
Limited options makes you predictable, being predictable makes you easy to shoot. (ie....someone flying 100ft up, at 200 mph is pretty much dead if you are behind them, they dont have the option to use the airspace below them, you KNOW they arent going to dive away, and at 200 mph, he isnt going to climb a hell of a lot either, so that pretty much leaves him with the options of a] turn left
b] turn right.

Now, think about the possible moves an enemy might make if he is at 15000 ft, and 320 mph.......he can go up, down, left, right or any combination of those......much more options, much less likely that you will accurately predict what he is going to do, much less likely that you will be able to shoot him.

To GAIN options, climb or accellerate.

Climbing gives you the option to use the airspace below you, accellerating gives you the option to climb.


Situational Awareness (SA) is paramount, you simply CANNOT fight someone if you dont know where they are and what they are doing........Lose Sight, Lose The Fight.


Just thought  that might help.

Ntice how a whole descriptive sentence can be condensed by use of jargon BTW.


Blue

[Wotan]

its not a "split S" its a "Split Esse"